England's captain, Andrew Strauss, stood as a pacifist here today as South Africa's war of words raged around his head on the eve of the five-match ODI series which starts at the Wanderers tomorrow afternoon.

England have been accused of being predictable and of undermining their young leg-spinner, Adil Rashid, who was withdrawn from fire after one over of mayhem that cost 25 runs, with four sixes, at Centurion on Sunday. Strauss has also come under needling criticism from his opposite number, Graeme Smith, for deciding not to play Twenty20 cricket.

England have responded to this provocation with a serene smile. But Strauss still got his point across when he said: "A lot has been said, but not by me. We've always refrained from making big comments about the opposition because the world is round and these things can come back to haunt you pretty quickly."

Rain fell on this verdant, hectic and greedy city for most of today and with more expected tomorrow there is a good chance that this series will be stillborn. Perhaps that was the reason that the phoney war, and not the real one, was still the major talking point.

"When you come to South Africa you expect things to be said in the press," Strauss added. "It's happened before and no doubt it will happen again. If they want to continue making those sort of comments that's fine. We're more than motivated enough as it is. We won't be playing that game.

"If, by spending a lot of time looking at the opposition you're taking your eye off your own team that can only be a good thing for us. We're not spending a lot of time thinking about them for that very reason. I've never seen an England squad more motivated to go out and win games of cricket. When we step over that white line there's going to be no friendliness, I can assure you of that."

Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, said that things appeared to be too friendly when he saw Jonathan Trott, the South African England batsman, socialising with one of his players. But Strauss said: "Jonathan has already shown on this tour that he's here to make runs, not friends. People know each other from years of playing together. It seems wrong to ban them from speaking to each other. That seems a bit extreme to me. As long as it doesn't take place on the pitch."

Arthur could not resist another piece of mischief after it was announced that James Tredwell, the Kent off-spinner who was not in any of England's A, B or C squads announced earlier this winter, had been drafted in as cover for Graeme Swann, who is likely to miss the first two ODIs along with Stuart Broad. "It will be interesting to see if they play Rashid or Tredwell," said Arthur. "I expect Rashid to play but I will be looking very hard at that team-sheet when it gets back to us."

Strauss said that Monty Panesar, who is playing in Johannesburg for the Highveld Lions, had not been considered because they wanted an off-spinner capable of turning the ball away from South Africa's left-handers.

England have won their past five ODIs against South Africa, beating them 4-0 in England last summer before knocking them out of the Champions Trophy at Centurion in September.

"The 4-0 victory in England was a long time ago in very different conditions but we can take some confidence from the fact that we beat them in a pressure situation in the Champions Trophy," said Strauss.

"There is no more motivation than that," said Arthur. "That is ringing in our ears. It was almost as if our tour finished when we had won the Test series in England last year."

Meanwhile, as the England and Wales Cricket Board continues to show apoplexy over the re-classification of Ashes series as one of sports "crown jewels" which are watched on terrestrial TV, Strauss called for compromise.

"If more people more watching a cricket game means that more people play the game that's a huge benefit," he said. "But if you have more funding to allow people to play the game that is important too.

"There's a long time before this has to be dealt with. I think both sides of the argument need to be looked at very carefully and maybe there is some compromise there that can be made." But there will be little compromise in the highveld air when the teams take the field.